Indian teachers have voiced their opinions on the present state of India’s learning environment through Pearson Voice of Teacher Survey 2014. They feel that half of the students (50 per cent) entering a class or grade lack the skills (academic, cognitive and vocational) required for that level, signifying low orientation of the system on skill development. What is needed is a greater thrust on skill and personality development.
This is further substantiated as majority of the teachers (92 per cent) believe that India’s assessment system, primarily, focuses on exam results. In fact, teachers consider skill and personality development (94 per cent) as the most important benchmark for measuring learner success, followed by preparedness for higher education and job (83 per cent) and lastly the test and exam results (57 per cent). For achieving the desired learning outcomes, the survey reveals that teachers are least satisfied with the support they receive from parents (54 per cent) and policy makers (55 per cent).
Released on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, the Survey is an annual initiative. The survey focuses on topical issues facing Indian education sector and shares teachers' perspective on the changing dynamics of the ecosystem. The 2014 edition of the survey focuses on the education system’s ability to drive learner outcomes and the challenges faced in achieving the same.
However the silver lining of the findings showed in teacher’s (79 per cent) belief that the learning environment has improved over the past decade. The perception varies by segment/ level — school teachers view the changes more favorably (93 per cent) vis-à-vis their counterparts in higher education (71 per cent). The survey also reveals that the teachers consider real-life and practical exposure (63 per cent) as the key factor in driving learning outcomes, followed by technology integration into teaching (51 per cent), training on new methodologies (49 per cent) and improved curriculum and assessment framework (44 per cent).
Talking about the survey, Deepak Mehrotra, MD, Pearson India, said: “We continue to follow the ageold tradition of respecting teachers and their views. With this thought, we launched the survey in 2013 for the first time. It is our attempt to share their views with the world.”
The survey represents the views of 5,145 teachers from schools and higher education institutes across 247 cities and towns in India.